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YORK UNIVERSITY FILM SERIES LAUNCHES PAUL ROBESON CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION TORONTO, March 27, 1998 -- Toronto's Paul Robeson Centennial Celebration, marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the legendary African-American musician, actor and activist, kicks off April 6 with Paul Robeson Week at York University. Films from the 1920s to 1940s starring Robeson will be shown in a noon-hour series running April 6 to 9. On the program:
The 1924 silent film Body and Soul, a melodrama about gamblers, bootleggers and unscrupulous preachers, produced and directed by African-American film producer Oscar Micheaux, and one of Paul Robeson's earliest screen appearances
Sanders of the River (1935), directed by Alexander Korda: a pro-colonialist adventure story set in West Africa, and the film that Robeson most regretted having made
Native Land (1942), a docu-drama directed by Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand, exploring the United States and its ideologies, and the forces threatening to undermine it from within: capitalists, strikebreakers and the Ku Klux Klan
The Emperor Jones (1933), based on the Eugene O'Neill play and directed by Dudley Murphy: a drama in which a black man deposes the local ruler of a Caribbean island and declares himself emperor. Paul Robeson Week will culminate on the evening of Thurs. April 9 - Robeson's birthday - with a screening at 7:30 p.m. of Showboat (1936), the earliest film version of the now controversial play about life and love among a theatrical troupe on a Mississippi riverboat. The film will be followed by a panel discussion. Born in Princeton, New Jersey in 1898, Paul Robeson graduated from Rutgers and Columbia University Law School, distinguishing himself both as a scholar and an athlete. He left a promising career in law in protest against racial prejudice and entered the world of theatre and music, where he was rapidly recognized as a major international talent. He premiered several Eugene O'Neill plays, starred in the 1944 London stage production of Othello, made 11 films, and gave countless concerts of African-American spirituals and the folk songs of many cultures. Robeson sang for peace and justice in 25 languages throughout the world, including many performances in Toronto and other Canadian cities. He actively lent his dintinctive voice to the struggles of the developing labour movement, in the war against fascism in Europe, and above all, to the fight against racism in the United States. Because of his outspokenness, he was vilified during the McCarthy era, had his passport revoked and became a virtual prisoner in his own homeland until 1958. Robeson retired from public life in 1963 and died in 1976. In tribute to his legacy, Paul Robeson Week has been organized by York University theatre professor and Robeson scholar Anatol Schlosser, as part of the Paul Robeson Centennial Celebration. The Paul Robeson Week films and discussions will take place in Burton Auditorium at York University, 4700 Keele St. at Steeles Ave. Admission is free. For further information, call Dr. Anatol Schlosser at York University, 736-5172 #3 or Selwyn McLean, chair of the Paul Robeson Centennial Committee, at 293-4982.
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